Control AI now or brace for nightmare future, experts warn

Rogue states, criminals and terrorists could use artificial intelligence to wreak havoc around the world, according t...

Posted: Feb. 21, 2018 4:15 AM

Updated: Feb. 21, 2018 10:18 AM

Rogue states, criminals and terrorists could use artificial intelligence to wreak havoc around the world, according to a new report.

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More than two dozen experts from top universities and research organizations in the U.S. and the U.K. wrote the alarming report about the malicious use of AI, which was published Wednesday by Cambridge University.

"For many decades hype outstripped fact in terms of AI and machine learning. No longer," said Se-n - h-igeartaigh, a Cambridge academic who is one of the authors.

The report warns that artificial intelligence could usher in a new wave of cyberattacks in which computers use speech technology to impersonate targets or carry out "superhuman hacking" by taking control of drones, driverless vehicles or even autonomous weapons systems on the battlefield.

Some of the predictions sound like dystopian nightmares taken straight from a Hollywood movie or an episode of "Black Mirror."

The report is the latest in a series of warnings about the potential consequences of the rapid development of artificial intelligence.